Collision
by east-chan
Summary: SUIGETSUxINO She was seperated from her team. He was seperated from his beloved blade. And while chasing after what they think is love, they collide.
1. This Day

Alright. Obviously all of you reading this (all four of us, myself included) saw the pairing and were either confused, disturbed, intrigued or thought I was kidding (I wasn't) let me just explain myself: Ino is my favorite female character and Suigetsu is my favorite male character…so it only made sense to creep out my fellow Naruto/Fan fiction-loving comrades by writing a romantic story about them…hence…this.

I'm not expecting fellow fans of this story…just hear me out…for at least half the chapter? (:

* * *

This day. This day was bright and sunny. This day was, typically, one of her favorite kinds of days. The kind of day where everyone was out and about. The birds were chirping and freely flying wherever the light breeze took them. The kind of day where she'd consider calling Sakura by her name rather than Billboard Brow or being a tad bit flirtier with Sai when she saw him.

But this wasn't one of _those _days. This was a day where everyone was confused about what they should be feeling. Everyone else saw it as bright, blue and beautiful. It was happy and contagious. But they were all wrong. This was a dark, solemn day. A day where no one should be out and about.

Maybe everyone was blinded by the sheer sunlight and couldn't see how awful of a day it truly was. Maybe only her, Shikamaru and Choji could fully understand the extent of what it signified. It signified a change - a shift in the universe where Team Ten was alone. They were together in this mess, but in completely different directions. They were feeling the same feelings and experiencing the same loss, but they weren't experiencing it the same way and they're weren't together. The was an effective tension keeping them from drawing back towards each other. There was a missing link binding them together.

Ino anchored her long hair into a ponytail, purposely leaving out just enough hair to cover half her face. She liked it that way. Maybe it made people see her as more mysterious. With a repressed sigh she stared blankly into the mirror, saddened to see a sad face staring back at her.

A sun beam stretched into her room and hit the side of her face, making her special earrings glimmer. This helped. Remembering her prize possession, the earrings Asuma-sensei had given her, she was able to mold a weak smile onto her face, despite it being an awful day.

"I'll be home soon," she mumbled a promise to her mother as she trekked out of the house and into the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"Another mission?" she asked.

Ino stopped at the door, frowning.

"Yeah." Without waiting for a response, she silently slid out of the store and headed towards the main gates to meet Shikamaru and Choji.

"The mission will be in the Land of Water," Lady Tsunade had informed them the evening before. "It's a B-Rank mission, so I'm confident you three can manage it yourselves."

"What's it about?" Choji questioned, wincing along with his two teammates. It was unsettling to know there were only three of them now- Asuma-sensei would never be joining them on a mission again.

"Highly skilled assassins. Apparently on quite a few occasions, a small group of men have broken into mansions, stolen everything of value and assassinated anyone who saw them along the way. Currently this gang has killed a total of eighteen people: five of them being nobles and the rest being guards or relatives of the nobles."

"Do we have any leads?" Shikamaru asked.

Tsunade shook her head. "None whatsoever. A few rumors are going around about the whereabouts of their hideout. Most are pointing towards the Village Hidden in the Mist, but nothing is concrete. Don't limit your search to just one village."

"Ordinary robbers or skilled ninja?" Shikamaru pressed.

"Skilled robbers. There's also a rumor about there being approximately six of them. Obviously, since this gang kills everyone in their path, there aren't many witnesses to go by. But spend a day or so surveying that area and send a report back. If you find _anything _suspicious report back immediately and I will dispatch another squad if necessary. This mission could easily become an A or even S-Rank mission so remember not to be overly confident."

"Right," they responded in unison.

"You are to leave in the morning. Shikamaru, you'll be the team Captain."

Shikamaru grimaced. Leading was synonymous to putting in effort. Also known as: his pet peeve.

Ino dragged her feet the entire way to the main gate. Shikamaru and Choji were already standing there waiting for her. Lady Tsunade was with them.

She scanned the faces of her fellow comrades, seeing the exact expression on their faces as on the face in her mirror. None of them were happy with this set-up. But what could they do about it?

"Alright, the gang's all here," Tsunade began, her hands on her hips. Ino tried to straighten up and look ready for this mission. Her teammates followed her example.

Tsunade frowned. "This is your first mission alone, isn't it?" She asked, reveling in their unspoken tension.

"Since we fought those two Akatsuki members," Choji mumbled.

She sighed in response. "Listen you three, I know Asuma. And while I'm sure it's difficult to continue marching on in life, you must. How do you think he'd feel seeing you three so upset?" None of them responded, knowing the answer would be the opposite of their actions. "Asuma taught you all very well. You're exceptional ninja and I chose this team specifically for your abilities. So stand up straight and make your sensei proud. He wouldn't want you three to be so down."

They all silently nodded in response. Ino knew she was right. Asuma-sensei would never have wanted them to be this down. But staying in a lighter mood was easier said than done. She looked at her teammates, whose eyes read sameness. They were thinking the same way as her. Ino looked heartedly at Tsunade. "You're right, Tsunade-sama. We will try to be more spirited." Tsunade smiled approvingly and saw them off.

* * *

Suigetsu woke up, disgruntled. The sun was flooding onto his face, hurting his eyes. He groaned lightly.

"I hate this kind of day," he mumbled to himself. The kind of day where people are all so cheery, even to strangers. Don't they know how awful today is? Suigetsu had suffered a loss and everyone everywhere acted as if nothing had been taken from anyone.

Suigetsu shifted his eyes to where he last saw his beloved sword fall, just as he had fallen. He, although generally not one to play the innocent card, he was clearly not in the wrong last night. How could he help what his eyes had seen? It's not like he cared or even tried to put in effort to save that renowned politician from the hands of the bandits. All he did was show up in the wrong place at the wrong time. And while he was lucky to still be alive, he was once again ripped apart from his sword.

The night before Suigetsu had been nonchalantly walking back to his hotel room when he heard a rustle in the forest on the outskirts of the town. Curious that maybe something that would spark an interest was happening, he headed towards the noise. Six men who all wore bandages on their foreheads were surrounding a noteworthy and rich man of the village. Hell, even Suigetsu recognized him, and he rarely bothered paying attention to small details. The six bandits all had sacks strapped to their backs and stuffed to the brim with fine jewelry and money.

"These must be those robbers I've heard rumors about," he murmured to himself, overlooking the scene from a tree. He watched silently as the robbers killed the nobleman and left his body. They all exchanged compliments on their fighting techniques. Suigetsu scoffed; with that execution, they were clearly no ninja. Suigetsu had half a mind to give them pointers.

But that was his first - and last - mistake: underestimating them. Because the moment he leapt down from the tall tree to return back to the village, he was heard.

"What do you think you're doing there, punk?" One asked him sternly. Clearly he wasn't looking for an actual answer so Suigetsu reluctantly swallowed his wiseass remark. "You're not getting away! You've seen too much!" Three charged him. Suigetsu rolled his eyes as he pulled the sword off his back and prepared for defense.

"Like I care? I don't even follow politics." Suigetsu lifted his sword in front of his face, ready for the brunt of his opponents attack. While he was ninja and clearly had a bigger and stronger weapon than his opponent, he lacked in musculature.

The man came towards him swinging and Suigetsu was already planning the man's death in his head.

"Don't let you guard down!" Suigetsu whipped around to find another charging him from behind. How could he have been so careless? Leaving his back open like that! Letting his guard down!

And that was it. The next thing he remembered was hitting on the ground hard, his vision blurring and his head pounding. He could feel his body slipping back into a liquidated state, but he was more concerned with the prick eyeing his sword as if it were another rich politician. He could feel two men from behind him trying to beat him, but his body refused to accept any physical attacks as it melted into a puddle of water.

"He isn't dying! " He heard one man say, his voice echoing in his ears and making his head pound harder. Suigetsu began to wonder if his heart had somehow fallen into his head and that's why the pounding was so loud. Maybe his heart had misplaced itself. Maybe it wasn't all that bad of a situation. Maybe the leader of the gang wasn't really picking up his Executioner's blade and walking away with it with a devilish smile on his face.

The last thing he heard him say was, "Leave him then. He's useless anyway."

Suigetsu sneered at the reflection of himself in the river.

"Fool," he scolded himself. With horrible battle tactics like the ones he used last night, how would anyone ever accept him as the leader of the reformed Seven Swordsmen of the Mist? They wouldn't. They just wouldn't. A leader must be cunning and stealthy. He couldn't have even escaped! And while it was only a sword that was taken from him, what kind of leader allows a comrade to be captured? Not a good one.

Suigetsu dunked his feet into the water and fell backwards, his face soaking in the sunlight.

"I hate you," he told the sun.

* * *

The fire crackled loudly and painted an orange glow on Ino's face as Choji and Shikamaru recapped on the plan. She wasn't sure why they continued to talk about it; they had gone over it as a group about forty times…or at least it felt that way.

Shikamaru will take the east and search the villages for any signs of the robbers. Choji would take the north and ask for any rumor confirmations. Ino would stay in the village they currently resided near. There was a prestigious man with a bank account to prove it living in that town and he seemed like not only an obvious target, but an easy one. Ino would survey the area throughout the day and make sure nothing seemed fishy. They agreed to meet back at this spot- at the mouth of the river- at six in the evening. That is, if nothing ensued before then.

"Ino, you got it, right?"

"Yes," she exhaled. She tried her hardest not to be sarcastic with them, but when they asked stupid questions and infantilized her it was difficult to restrain herself. In addition to that, what happened to their distress? All of the sudden they forgot all about the death of Asuma-sensei? Why was she suddenly the only one noticing his absence?

This was wrong. All wrong. Ino should be going north for questions, Choji should be going east to search, Shikamaru should be heading south to inspect and Asuma-sensei should be the one protecting the wealthy man in the village. Didn't anyone realize how awful the day was? It was like the instant Tsunade gave them a pep talk they became cheerful and forgot all about their loss. How can a small pep talk dignify the death of a beloved teacher? That's why Ino was convinced they were all in standing in different directions. They were all on the same boat, but Ino seemed to be the only one facing the storm.

Maybe defeating Hidan was enough for Shikamaru. Maybe Choji was just too forgiving. All of the sudden, her best friends' best qualities were becoming her worst nightmares. Funny how quick that can happen.

"Ino," Shikamaru stated. Ino popped out of her thoughts and looked over her shoulder at her comrades.

"Sorry, what?"

"You alright?"

She blinked. Stupid questions. Again. "Yes," she sang breathily, trying her hardest not to be rude. "I just think that-" She stopped short, hearing a nearly soundless crunch of leaves over the crackle of the fire.

"What?" Choji asked. Ino whipped a finger to her mouth, signaling his silence. She mouthed, 'someone's coming' to them and their eyes widened. In unison, the three shot up from where they were sitting. A man casually stepped out of the thicket with an evil grin on his face. He was chuckling and looking beyond his shoulder, as if he were talking to someone. He turned to face Team Ten and the smile became a grimace. Five other men stepped out of the bushes behind him, all wearing frowns. They were all wearing matching bandages around their forehead with heavy-looking sacks strapped to their backs. One was carrying the biggest sword Ino had ever seen. It was just as tall as the man carrying it.

"The robbers," Shikamaru whispered as the group subconsciously got into 'Ino-Shika-Cho' formation.

"What are you three punks looking at?" The leader asked.

"We'll be asking the questions here, boys," Shikamaru took command. "You six look like you just ran into some hefty cash."

The gang smirked. "Sure did," one replied.

"So then, you're the gang of robbers and assassins?" Ino clarified.

"That's right, sweetie," one grinned perversely at her. She sneered in response. "If you want, you and your two friends can join the list."

"List?" they asked simultaneously.

"Sure. List of people we've killed."

Within a blink of an eye, the six men had scattered. The leader appeared first, his backpack of stolen goods gone from sight. He raced towards Shikamaru with sheer blood thirst. Choji and Ino watched as Shikamaru met him in the middle of the forest, three kunai circling around his fingers. Next, three large men jumped in front of Ino.

"Hey pretty lady," one gushed.

"Get away from her!" Choji began forming hand signs as quickly as possible. "Ino, they're missing their backpacks just like their leader. They must have taken them off somewhere so they wouldn't hinder them in battle! You need to go find where they are, I'll hold these guys off!"

Ino nodded in agreement and sprinted farther and farther into the forest, reassuring herself that Choji can handle those three guys. After all, Choji was a ninja and those guys were just robbers. They had nothing on Choji. Then again, they had something Choji didn't: stamina and musculature. Ino swallowed, deciding to trust in her comrade and avert her full attention into finding the stolen goods.

"Hey, princess," she heard a smooth voice call to her as she leapt onto a tree branch. She stopped short before pressing onward. The man with the large sword was staring at her with a pleased grin. "Where do you think you're going?" He took two steps forward as Ino leapt onto a higher-up branch. She whipped out a kunai, prepared for a fight. "No use in fighting me with that. At least, not when I've got this," he pulled the large sword off his back. "I'd heard it's one of the Seven Great Swords of the Mist. And it is rather great, is it not?" he asked her rhetorically. "Leader found it, gave it to me as a prize for knocking some delinquent out last night. Pretty neat, huh?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're asking me if I think it's cool you attacked an innocent 'delinquent'?" She air quoted. "No. I actually don't."

The man rolled his eyes. "Smart-mouthed girls displease me, no matter how beautiful."

"Creep!" Ino jumped in the air and threw the kunai. He tilted the sword slightly and disregarded the kunai with ease. She glared at him, scolding herself for thinking it would be as simple as that. She knelt down, trying to strategize as quickly as possible how to get him to stay still long enough to use a mind jutsu on him. Knowing a well-trained ninja never lets their guard down, she quickly opened her eyes just to calculate their distance between each other. However, the instance she blinked he was gone, sword and all.

"He's fast!" she gasped.

"That's right, honey," he jumped out from behind her and grabbed her into a chokehold. "Now what, precious?" Ino struggled to break free from his strong grasp, but the more she wiggled the tighter he held her. She could feel her throat tightening up from the crush of his grip. She was loosing air now.

How stupid she felt. As if she had any chance against this guy? Even if he didn't have a gigantic sword with him he would still be out of her league- and he's not even a ninja!

As Ino lost more and more air and the tunnel vision began taking effect, Ino remembered: he was in the perfect position to use a mind disturbance technique. She smirked and slowly began weaving signs with her hand. As soon as she felt her chakra flowing perfectly, she whipped out of his grasp and, with her fingers circling over her heart, cast her jutsu. Her body hit the large branch as the jutsu began taking effect. She only had a few minutes, she knew.

"Ino!" Through the ears of her opponent, she heard Shikamaru and Choji's voices calling from both directions.

"Get away from her!" Choji yelled, weaving the hand signs for his expansion jutsu.

Ino widened the eyes of her former opponent and looked at her fallen body. From Choji's eyes, it must've looked bad; as if she were defeated. Ino took a quick glance in the direction of Shikamaru. He was carefully studying her spiritless body, cognizant that she was using a jutsu. Shikamaru's eyes widened even more and he looked towards Choji.

"Choji wait-" before Shikamaru could explain Choji was rumbling towards Ino, in full-on kill mode. Ino tried to move but the sword on her back was too heavy for her own stamina to carry. She turned away as Choji's jutsu hit her. The last thing she remembered was feeling her spirit getting knocked out of the opponents body and back into her own.

* * *

Suigetsu stared up at the stars, his hands behind his head and his mouth in a permanent frown. He hadn't moved all day, seeing as he had to stay close to water in order to regain complete composure.

"Well," he muttered to himself, "at least this awful day is ending soon." His eyes slowly shut, only to be reopened by the entire ground shaking. A dark, gray cloud mushroomed up on the other side of the river a little ways off. Suigetsu eyed it quizzically.

"-the hell?" He considered getting up to see what all the ruckus was, but it hardly seemed worth it. Whatever it was, it couldn't be as bad as loosing his precious sword, he figured.

Suigetsu's eyelids slowly shut into a sleep.

* * *

Shikamaru coughed from the rubble of the jutsu. Choji had perfected that jutsu almost _too _well, Shikamaru thought. Not only had he torn down all the trees within a radius of fifteen meters, he also lifted up a giant dust cloud that was suffocating and blinding. Perfect for confusing the enemy, but also the perfect cover for an enemy to escape.

Shikamaru stumbled around, his arms out in front of him, searching for something to grasp and hoping he'd find Ino or Choji before he found an enemy.

"Shikamaru?" he heard a cough and he leapt towards the direction. He saw a red and brown blur and recognized it as Choji.

"Choji!" Shikamaru raced over to him. "Choji, it was Ino in the enemy's body!"

Choji coughed more. "I- I know. I realized that after it was too late."

Shikamaru groaned and fell to the earth. "I don't know what's worse, the fact that I'm failing as a Captain on my first mission or the fact that not only did the robbers get away, but Ino's gone too." Choji pursed his lips, worry filling his eyes. Shikamaru looked up at him, confused. "What is it?" He questioned.

Choji looked around nervously. "You-you don't think they'd kill her do you?"

Shikamaru frowned. "No. No way," he refused to accept it. "We'll find those robbers and we'll save Ino."

Choji nodded in agreement. "Right!"

* * *

Meh. Too long of a first chapter?

Anyway Shikamaru and Choji don't play a huge role in this story…neither do the robbers. And just a hint: someone else finds Ino first. No, it's not Neji.

If there's ANYONE reading this...it'd be nice of you to review(:


	2. The Hate List

Hi thanks so much to those of you who reviewed…I must say I was shocked and baffled. :p

Anyway, here's there's next chapter. I hope you like it! (:

* * *

Chapter Two: The Hate List

Suigetsu slumped down in the booth with a lonely and bothered frown smeared to his lips. Everyone else in the tea shop was so happy and complete and clothed while he just felt irritated, incomplete and naked. There was just something about that sword on his back that reassured him. It was like life insurance to him. And now that it was gone, he felt small and endangered. As if anything or anyone could easily pummel him. How degrading.

And, to his demise, not even a nice bowl of cold yogurt could uplift his spirit. Not even three bowls could. Suigetsu decided that the fourth bowl would probably do the trick, but after one taste he only felt nauseous.

"I officially hate you too," he told the bowl of yogurt, adding that to the list of things he currently despised. Aside from the yogurt, the sun, the waitress, the bandits and himself were on 'the list'.

Suigetsu slapped some money on the table, reminding himself to bitterly stiff the oh-so-hated waitress. As he got up, he subconsciously swung his hand at the booth, trying to grasp the sword that should have been there. He whipped around, glaring at the empty booth. It seemed to be mocking him.

"Hate you too," he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and heading towards the door. He looked around at all the smiling and happy waiters, waitresses and costumers. Jerks.

Suigetsu stomped through the small marketplace, giving everyone he made eye contact with a death glare. He left the village at a quick pace and headed back towards the river he had fallen asleep by the night before. He figured if he started there and retraced his steps, maybe he'd get a good sense of the direction the robbers took off in. Enough was enough; he could only sit around and mope for so long until taking action was downright required. He refused to give up until he found the Executioner's blade. It was his. He trained for it. He worked for it. He fought for it. And while he's also the one who lost it in the first place, he was more than willing to work for it and fight for it again. Failure was no longer an option. Now he was serious. Now it was personal.

"Dumb bandits," he muttered brazenly. "They don't know who they're messing with. They just picked a fight with the worst possible person to pick a fight with!" Very few things got Suigetsu out of his apathetic state-of-mind. But this was one of them.

As Suigetsu headed towards the sound of the river, he took a short cut up through the trees. What was the point of being a ninja if you couldn't mow through trees like nobody's business, anyway? He began trailing through the forest, every now and then kicking off a branch to keep up his momentum.

As he neared his destination, he caught a glimpse of something peculiar. He quickly stopped in his tracks and turned around. Below him on the forest floor was a girl, sprawled out beside the trunk of a tree. Suigetsu rolled his eyes and jumped down.

"Hey kid," he lightly kicked his toe off her shin. "this is a pretty stupid place to be napping." Didn't she know anything? There were bandits around here!

Oh yeah, the bandits.

Suigetsu crouched down beside her, surveying her for any possible injuries. Maybe she wasn't napping. Maybe she was dead. Did the bandits get to her too? Perhaps she hadn't been as lucky him. What a disturbing thought: there might actually be someone out there who lost more to those bandits than he had.

"Lady?" he called out again, poking her. "Alive or dead?"

Before he could even blink he was sailing in the air via a tough kick to the chest. He slammed against a thick tree trunk and slid to the ground, feeling the back of his head slush into water. The girl was up and inches away from his face, a kunai to his neck.

"The only dead one around here is you," she spat.

Suigetsu groaned. "Just my luck. I try to be helpful and now I'm gunna die because of it," he scoffed. "Well this is the last time I try and help someone out." Nonchalantly, he snatched a water bottle off his belt and began drinking, as if his life weren't even being threatened. He stopped drinking long enough to look at her. Her face was smothered in a fit of rage.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded, insulted. He shrugged.

"Kunai don't work on me. I'm not in much danger from the likes of you, that's all," he answered casually. "If you don't believe me, you can try it."

She hesitantly eyed him, trying to figure out if she should be trusting his word. He didn't seem to be armed with anything dangerous. Then again, if he were a ninja, he could have a kekkai genkai she's never even heard of. But he could also be bluffing. Maybe he was just a normal, ordinary person and was fooling with her for kicks and giggles.

"And even if I were in the position to harm you," he broke her concentration. "I wouldn't. And _that_ you have to believe; I could've killed you while you were unconscious, you know," he pointed out. "Besides, I've dealt with more hateful girls than you before."

Her eyes filled with even more insult. "Hateful?" she repeated, her shrill voice dripping with indignation.

He shrugged again, folding his arms. "I call 'em like I see 'em."

She jumped away from him and turned her back, offended. "You don't even know me to say that. Go away!" she ordered, her nose in the air. Suigetsu slid up onto his feet, placing the bottle of water back onto his belt. He leaned his back onto the tree trunk, watching her. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder to see if he was still there.

"Go away!"

"Why were you unconscious, anyway?" he ignored her demand.

"That's none of your business!" she responded icily, sharply placing her hands on her hips. Truthfully, she was beginning to wonder the same thing. But there were more pressing issues in her life at the moment; for starters, this boy. She turned to face him with her meanest expression. He stood staring at her with a particularly bothersome grin on his face that made her wonder what he was thinking about. "Now leave!"

"You're know, for a girl whose life I just saved, you're pretty ungrateful," he deciphered.

"Excuse me? And how exactly do you think you just saved my life?" she asked.

"Well, you're lucky I'm the one who found you out here is all. It could've been those retarded thugs that found you. And you being ridiculously pretty and all, probably would've been killed…or worse," he explained.

"Thugs?" she felt a rush of memory flow back into her brain. "You mean those robbers?" she asked. Before Suigetsu could respond she had leapt back towards him, her nose less than a centimeter from his. He could feel her breath on his cheeks. "Where are they? Which way did they go?" she asked frantically. A flush of pink swarmed Suigetsu's face as he nervously slipped out from between her and the tree trunk.

"Hey, hey, personal space here, lady. And how am I supposed to know? What do I look like, a genius?"

She smirked. "Far from it." He frowned bitterly.

"Congratulations. You've _officially _made it onto my list of hated things," he announced flatly. She frowned. The two spent a few long moments staring at each other, scanning over one another trying to grasp some understanding of the one looking back at them. Ino gave up first, brushed off her purple skirt and once again turned her back to him, heading off.

"Well then-" she trailed off in confusion. She looked back at him, her eyes asking for some help.

"-Suigetsu."

"Well then, Suigetsu. Thank you for saving my life," she told him sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, I need to go find the people I actually enjoy spending time with."

He watched her walk away, her soft steps making for a superb and slender gait that made him rethink her position on his hate list. In the end, he rolled his eyes. "No problem, bitch."

* * *

Ino stormed through the forest, trying to find some evidence of Shikamaru or Choji's whereabouts. She huffed, having half a mind to walk back up to that Suigetsu boy and smack him across the face. In fact, she decided, if and when she saw him again, she would. It was mandatory. No one as arrogant of an ass as he was could get away with calling her hateful (without even know her name, mind you) and claim to have saved her. From what? She was a ninja! She didn't need some shrimpy punk like him playing the role of hero. She was her own hero! She could save herself.

"Well they couldn't have gotten too far, could they?" she wondered aloud, finding no trace of Shikamaru, Choji, the bandits, or even the battlefield she last saw them on. But then again, maybe they _had _gotten that far away. For all Ino knows, she could've been unconscious for a week.

She sighed. Maybe that Suigetsu guy did save her. If it weren't for him prodding at her and kicking her shin repeatedly, she would still be out cold. Who knows how long she would have been unconscious for if he hadn't found her.

Ino leapt up into a tree and stood on the tallest branch, staring up at the sky. It was fading into a grayish orange color and the sun was peeling back into the horizon. It wouldn't be long until evening. She let out a defeated whimper, scanning the ground for her beloved teammates. They were no where to be found.

Did the bandits get to them? Were they dead? Captured? Ino shook those thoughts away. She had faith in her teammates. With stubbornness like Choji's and a genius like Shikamaru, there's no possible way they could be defeated so easily. Not by those chumps, anyway.

Ino looked around, spotting a river a little ways off. She decided to head towards there for a quick break. After that she'd spend the rest of the night surveying the area for the rest of Team Ten.

She jumped down from the canopy of trees and began walking towards the river, contemplating her next advancement. With or without those two, she decided, she was going to keep her part of the mission and cover the castle of the rich nobleman in town. After all, that was her assignment. Choji would go north, Shikamaru east and she'd stay in the village to protect the robbers next possible victim. She was sure that that was the best route to take.

But what if it wasn't? Doubt filled her mind and the picture of Shikamaru and Choji being captured by those robbers continued to pop up in her thoughts. Why hadn't they at least looked for her? She couldn't image the blow of Choji's impact throwing her that far from where they were. He was good at his expansion technique, but he was only a Chuunin.

Ino edged towards the river, feeling abandoned. She tried swallowing the dry feeling of being left behind. But how forsaken by her comrades she felt. First Asuma-sensei, now they've forgotten about her too?

Ino broke out of the forest and near the river. She shook her head dismally. "This is just wrong," she mumbled.

Ino knelt down next to the river and cupped some water in her hands and splashed it onto her face, revitalizing her skin and waking her up. She was going to have a long night. She could just tell.

"Oh c'mon! First you try to kill me and now you're stalking me? Listen, lady, I don't know what your game is, but if you're trying to play hard to get, it's not working." Ino whipped around to find Suigetsu lazily perched on a tree branch that overlooked the river. He jumped down to the ground and began walking towards her.

She gritted her teeth. What the hell was he doing here? Without question or further thought, she grabbed a kunai and threw it at him. He didn't even dodge it. The kunai hit him and soared through him, a small wave of water rushing down his chest and regrouping. Not a drip of blood.

"Told you kunai didn't work on me," he sang smugly. Ino raced towards him, her fist ready to greet his triumphant mug. Before she could touch him, his hand grasped hers, inches from his face.

"Let go of me!" She swung her body in the air, bringing her leg up to his face. He dropped her hand and blocked her kick, sliding backwards. She landed on her hands and twisted around back to her feet. She jumped a meter back from him, on guard.

"Listen kid-"

"Stop calling me kid or lady! I have a name!"

He fleered. "Not that I know of."

"It's Ino," she breathed calmly. She remained in her fighting stance for a moment before relaxing, recognizing that Suigetsu was playing defense. He wasn't going to attack her.

"Well, nice to meet you, Ino," he greeted.

Ino stifled a small, weak smile. Jerks that made Ino smile upset her; she's learned it's hard to detest someone who's charming. Very hard. Even if they add her to their so-called 'hate list'. Besides, a second ago they were beginning a battle! How dare he go from blocking her kick to charming her! She knew he was bluffing; he had no special kekkai genkai that she had to be scared of. He probably wasn't even a ninja. Just a freak. An ordinary freak.

"Dido," she replied, keeping her cool. She spun back around and landed next to the rivers edge. He strode over to her and joined her. Ino sneered at him as he sat down next to her and she scooted away. He shot her a curious glance in which she responded by hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on her knee.

"What of it?" she asked rhetorically. "Just because I stopped attacking you and told you my name doesn't make us friends, you know," she said coldly. Suigetsu ignored her comment and leaned towards her to instigate. "Stop!" she screeched, smacking his arm. Unaffected, he leaned away with a chuckle.

"It's true, you're a bit annoying. But you're fun to provoke," he smiled.

"I think I hate you."

"You're not the first," he replied casually, falling onto his back and staring up at the blackish-red sky. He folded his arms behind his head.

"I probably won't be the last, either ," she sniffed. Ino shut her eyes slowly, thinking of where Shikamaru and Choji might be. So badly did she long to be where they were. Here. Here was uncomfortable. Here was untrustworthy, awkward and unfamiliar-oh wait, no that's Suigetsu. She opened her eyes and gazed over at him. She quickly whipped around when she realized he was staring back at her. A light blush enveloped her cheeks.

"So I've been thinking," he began, deciding that lock of a gaze was his cue, "about what you said earlier; about you needing to find the people you actually enjoy spending time with?" he waited for her response. When she didn't even shift an inch, he went on. "Anyway, I've been trying to figure you out. Figure out what you meant," he paused. "Did those bandits get you too?"

Ino lifted her chin from her knee in surprise. Too? He said 'too'. As in 'also'. As in…he was attacked? She turned to face him.

"You were attacked?" she questioned quietly.

He frowned bitterly. "Yeah. And they took something from me that I want back."

She cursed under her breath. "Did they take your dignity too?"

"More than that. They stole the only thing I had to my name. The one thing I cared about probably more than myself." Ino looked over at him sympathetically. He was far more emotional about his loss against the robbers than she was. She wondered deeply about what it was he lost, but didn't dare ask. She didn't know if he was the crying type. She didn't want to find out, either. After a short moment of silence, Suigetsu exhaled. "What did they take from you?" he pondered.

She sighed. "They separated me from my friends. My team mates." She looked nostalgically up at the sky and wondered where they were. She prayed they were alright, wherever they might be. Suigetsu breathed lightly and shut his eyes.

The last bit of sunlight crept over the horizon's edge and blackened the sky. Instantaneously. The stars conquered the night sky and shone brightly. Ino never realized how many stars there were. In the village, all the lamps and lanterns blocked out the natural, beautiful lights above. She let the corners of her mouth creep up into a small smile. The stars were comforting. She slowly lay down on her back next to Suigetsu. She followed his lead and shut her eyes.

"So, kid-"

"It's Ino."

"So, kid," Suigetsu continued. Ino grimaced, "I think we should get together."

Ino shot up and sent a blow of her fist to his jaw. His head splashed into a burst of water and slowly regained a human form.

"What did you just say you stupid little freak?" she screamed. "We were sharing a peaceful moment and-"

"You're not good at listening, are you?" he asked, too lazy to sit up and respond to her fury. "We should get together to find those thugs and kick their asses. They have what I want and they probably know where your friends are, too."

Ino calmed down enough to consider. She crossed her arms and pouted at him. To her, that sounded like the worst idea ever.

"That's the worst idea ever," she reported.

Suigetsu grumbled something profane under his breath. "Do I disgust you that much? It's not like I'm going to enjoy this, either. It just sounds like it makes more sense, that's all."

Ino didn't reply to his explanation. Instead she curled back up on the ground beside him and turned her back to him. After a few minutes of listening to herself softly breathe, she dignified him with a response: "I'll sleep on it."

* * *

So I have this habit of making chapters ridiculously longer than needed…? Oh well…I suppose. This was a fun chapter to write, although it was a mother. I have about three different copies of a chapter two but this is the best one (in my opinion).

Anyway, please review! Comments & critiques are also welcome! (:


	3. Proof

Chapter Three: Proof A soft moan drifted from Ino as her unconscious mind wandered into the next morning. The beaming sun made her skin feel warm and the nice and the quiet rushing river was perfect background music. She slowly opened her eyes and rolled over, expecting Suigetsu to be there ready to ruin her peaceful moment. She expected him to be equipped with a rude, witty comment that would make her rethink teaming up with him before she even verbally complied to his offer. However, neither were there to greet her. Ino shot up and looked around carefully. She was alone. It was...off-putting.

Ino stood up and brushed her skirt off, wondering if she had just dreamed Suigetsu found her by the river and offered to help her find Choji and Shikamaru. She shook that thought from her mind. No way. She would never dream of a jerk like him. She wouldn't even have a nightmare about him.

Yet here she was scanning three hundred-sixty degrees, trying to figure out where he went, if he was ever really there at all.

Ino quickly gave up with a short flip of her hair. Well she wasn't going to have any tolerance for his nonsense. He made an offer and she promised to sleep on it. If he isn't going to keep his end of the bargain, she wasn't going to dwell on it and that's that. She was willing to work with him, but clearly he had a fear of commitment...or maybe he feared her. Or worse: maybe he was actually serious about that 'hate list' he placed her name on. Ino self-consciously looked at her reflection in the river. How could he find her hateful? She's wasn't _that_ rude to him, was she? She tried thinking back, but could barely recall the details of yesterday. Her eyes shifted with worry. She hoped she wasn't too harsh.

Ino continued to stare at her reflection and scowled at herself, scolding herself for even trusting Suigetsu for a moment. Of course he wasn't actually going to help her find Shikamaru and Choji! He was a lazy, overly-confident boy with an attitude problem and a hate list to prove it. What an ass!

"No matter," she told herself pointedly, "I'm a ninja, after all. I don't need any help finding Shikamaru and Choji. I can do this myself!" Ino headed towards the forest, thinking of Asuma-sensei. She smiled, hoping he'd be proud of her; carrying out a mission when she was down and out. She was persevering! She hoped he was watching.

Ino planned out her day as she navigated her way back to the small village. She was still going to hold her end of the assignment and cover the rich man's castle and guard him from those robbers.

She would prove herself. To Asuma-sensei.

* * *

Suigetsu lazily strolled back towards the river, a water bottle in one hand, Ino's breakfast in the other. Granted, he wasn't the type to normally be kind and buy someone breakfast - let alone a complete stranger - but Ino intrigued him. She was a little annoying and a lot conceited, but he liked her. She was refreshing, not to mention easy on the eyes. Plus this gave him a good excuse to go for a walk. That was a bright side to not having the blade on his back: he could walk easier without quickly getting drained. And while for a half hour or so watching Ino sleep this morning was nice, his attention span could only span so long.

Suigetsu wasted no time getting back to the river, playing in his mind how Ino would turn him down - which he fully braced himself for; which was another reason why he got her breakfast: Ino seemed like the type to be easily guilt-tripped. She couldn't turn him down if he had bought her food, after all. He devilishly smirked at this thought.

Suigetsu broke through the patch of woods and into clear, broad daylight where the river began. He looked around carefully; he could've sworn this is where he left Ino an hour ago.

A malevolent grimace swept over Suigetsu's face as he dropped his water bottle and Ino's breakfast.

"Bitch."

* * *

Ino slowly sauntered through the woods, taking her time while enjoying the birds chirping and the leaves that every now and then fell from their branches and onto the forest floor. Who knew the Land of Waves had such a wide amount of foliage?

As she walked, Ino replayed parts of her battle in her head, trying to calculate just exactly went wrong. This was the first time since the incident she had silence long enough to sift through this mess. Was it her? How could Choji not tell she had used a jutsu on the enemy? Why hadn't Shikamaru spoke up before it was too late? What were they thinking, going off alone to fight the enemy! They were a team and they split up! Asuma would have never let them do that.

Ino clutched her empty stomach. When was the last time she had even stopped to eat? She scoffed, knowing Choji would have never let her miss a meal. In his eyes, it was sacrilegious. Ino continued to walk, trying to calculate the distance she was from the market. She heard a dim rustle of leaves and stopped walking.

Was it those robbers? Or maybe it was Shikamaru or Choji? Or Suiget-

"Hey!" Ino's body slammed against the ground and a sharp grunt left her throat. She felt her wrists being pinned down to the ground and she opened her eyes only to be blinded by the sun sitting in the sky right above her. She saw the dark silhouette of Suigetsu crouching on top of her, a mean look on his face.

"What the hell!" she shrieked. "Get off!" She tried wrestling her way out of his grip, but he only tightened it. Since when was he this strong? He certainly didn't look it.

"You ditched me! I offer to help you and you ditch me!" he accused.

Her eyes widened with frustration. "Seriously? I woke up and you were gone!"

"I was getting you breakfast!" he shot back coldly.

Ino opened her mouth to respond, but quickly snapped it shut. What could she say to that? He was doing something nice for her and she didn't even give him the benefit of the doubt. Ino tilted her head and let her bangs slide across her face. The last thing she wanted to do was be seen. Especially by him. He had humiliated her with kindness; now didn't she look like the foolish ass in this situation. He could at least let her be mortified in a position that didn't involve him being on top of her. _At least_ that. But much to her dismay, he stayed put.

"You're uncouth, you know that?" he continued harshly. He could shut up at any time: he already made her feel guilty. Why was it that he could so easily guilt-trip her? She wasn't ever like this with any other person. "Not to mention a coward! If you didn't want my help, you could've said it to my face!" Ino pursed her lips.

"Fine," she mumbled a response. "You win. Now hop off."

Suigetsu lightly grunted in response and she felt him gingerly lift off of her. With her bangs over her eyes, all she could hear were his footsteps in the grass, getting farther and farther away. She sprang up like a bullet.

"Wait-" she looked around. Nothing. "Sui..." she drifted off. She didn't even get to apolo-

Ino's body slammed against a trunk, her head throbbing. She tried opening her eyes as the blood rushed through her head and all she saw was white. But she could feel him. He was still there. Close.

"You know," he cooed, his breath grazing her neck. Ino felt a shiver of fear ricochet from the crown of her head to her toes. "Blade or no blade, I could still easily kill you."

Ino wouldn't dare look him in the eyes, although she was sure he was bluffing. He had to be. Then again, he was stronger than he looked too. Maybe he was a force _not _to be reckoned with. Wait- was that sheer bloodlust she felt?

"Suigetsu..." she mumbled, his cool breath floating down her neck. She felt her spine tingle. "Knock it off, you're freaking me out."

"My full title is Hozuki Suigetsu, the Second Coming of the Demon," he breathed lightly. "Did you know that?" Ino made no response. She felt her knees begin to give out and she started to shake like a leaf. This was a different Suigetsu than the lazy, overly-confident boy with an attitude problem and a hate list to prove it. Far different.

"Title?" she whispered in response.

"My brother is one of the Great Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. And I'm going to become its leader. Do you know who they are?" She shook her heard slowly. He continued. "I've been one of Orochimaru's test subjects. And I've been close enough to kill Uchiha Sasuke. Do you know who they are?"

Sasuke? Ino blinked slowly. He knew Sasuke? And...was close enough to kill him? He gave no fundamental proof that he was telling the truth, but if he was lying how could he have known who Sasuke was? And why would he talked about him highly if he didn't already know that Sasuke was strong; that Sasuke wasn't an easy opponent to take down.

"So, Ino," he purred, taking his finger and placing it on her temple. "It would be extremely easy for me to kill you if I really wanted to. If you threw me over the edge," he got closer to her, his lips just brushing her neck, "if I really felt like it."

Ino felt her heart pound loud enough to punch a hole through her chest. A slow silence swallowed them both up and neither moved. She heard a small chuckle come from Suigetsu as he slowly lifted his finger from her temple. She cringed, anticipating. This was the end. She could tell.

"Just kidding!" he laughed, backing away. "I wouldn't kill you. I like you!" he shot her a smile. Ino, stunned, didn't move an inch.

Suigetsu laughed some more, looking over at her, waiting for her to join in on his laughter. "Hey, Ino," he said, "calm down. I'm not after you- well, not like that."

Ino blinked again and licked her lips. She placed her hands on her knees and lurched over to save herself from falling backwards in anxiety and shock. She breathed heavily, "You were kidding?" she said loudly, emphasizing each word. Suigetsu stopped laughing.

"Yeah, it was just-" Ino raced over to him, slamming her fist into his jaw and watching his head waterfall into a wave, water splashing against her cold, clammy face. She waited until his head regained form and then punched him again, this time simultaneously sending a blow to his foot with her heel.

"What the f-"

"Hey, hey, take it easy!" he backed away. "Ino, it was joke. That's all."

She sputtered angrily for a few moments, trying to form complete sentences. She threw her hands in the air in frustration. "That was sick! There was nothing funny about that! I honestly thought I was going to _die_!" she screamed. "Why would you do that to me?"

He pouted. "That's why. I just wanted a reaction from you." He folded his arms and took a few more steps back from her.

"Well congratulations! You got one!"

"Good! I'm glad! I've known you for what, ten hours at the most, and you've sent me from one spectrum of my emotions to the next! You ignore me, you always try to attack me, you treat me like I'm lower than dirt- you needed a taste of your own medicine. I mean- I offered to help you reunite with your stupid team mates- which is something I didn't _need_ to do - and you don't even have the guts to say no to me? And it's not even because you were a coward, no- it's because you don't even care enough to cower. You seem to feel absolutely nothing about me!

"Of course I don't! I don't like you! When will you understand that?" she questioned meanly. Suigetsu glowered at her. She returned his expression, but for completely different reasons.

Suigetsu flopped down on the ground and whipped out a bottle of water. How rude; that was the most open thing he's ever said to anyone and she completely shut him down. Why would he even say that, anyway? There was no rhyme or reason to it. It just...came out. He continued to suck on his bottle of water, refusing to even look in her direction. She continued standing, scowling at him as he pulled strands of grass from the ground and balled them up in his fists.

"Why do you care what I think?" she broke the silence. Suigetsu stopped pulling up grass.

"Wha-"

"Why do you care what I think about you?" she clarified. "If we're going to work together, it's to find what those robbers stole from the both of us. The moment I find Shikamaru and Choji is the moment I leave and never look back at you. And I expected you to do the same thing with whatever they've taken from you. Aren't you Mist ninja all about being emotionless and stuff? I thought this place was known as the Village Hidden in the Bloody Mist or something?" she asked. "We aren't friends. We're barely even acquaintances."

Suigetsu clamped his lips together, letting his tooth dig into his lip far enough to draw blood. What was with her? Better yet, what was with _him_?

"Why do you care about why I care what you think?" he volleyed her question. She rolled her eyes.

"That's mature," she muttered, turning on her heel and beginning to walk away. She sighed. "I knew you'd find one way or another to ruin my peaceful morning," she spoke silently. "I have comrades to be reunited with. So if you don't mind-" she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whipped around and smacked him away, trying to not to seem surprised at how fast he moved.

"Stay away from me! You're a creep and an ass who has a bad personality and an even worse sense of humor!"

"And you're a narcissistic bitch with hair too long and a skirt too short, but I'm not complaining."

She gasped in offense. "I beg your pardon!"

"Listen, lady-"

"It's Ino."

"Listen, lady, whether you like it or not I'm coming with you. I don't care what your response is-"

"No."

"I don't care if you say no. I'm going to prove to you that I'm worth being sent from one spectrum of your emotions to the next. I'm worth worrying about," he finished in a dignified, confident manner, his hands prominently on his hips.

Her brows furrowed. "Why do you care so much?" she asked again.

He smirked devilishly. "Because I can't refuse a challenge to prove myself to a stuck up princess like you."

* * *

*COUGHthat's not why he's going!COUGH*

Ugh. This chapter was TORTURE to write. And I still hate it.

Meh. I referenced a lot of episode 115 in this chapter, if you couldn't tell. And, since a few of you asked, Jugo, Karin and Sasuke aren't in this story. Why is Suigetsu off on his own in the Land of Waves, with(out) his Executioner's blade and memory of the beginning of Taka? ...I don't know! I just write the story! (:

Please review. (: Sorry for the lateness-ish of this chapter!

p.s if there are spelling mistakes, sorry. I'll edit it in a day or so. Me too sleepy to right now and I've already read through it once and I don't feel like checking a second time so please tell me if there are any mistakes. Thank you(:


	4. Ino

Yeh...sorry for not updating sooner. I've had to finish up my driving hours, the NASCAR season started up I have to write like a 678586 page long paper for English. Kill. Me. Now.

P.S I know this is late but OMG yes! Chapter 529 of the manga was siiiick. THAT is exactly why I love Ino(: And I was extremely happy Kishimoto didn't have her just healing people like Sakura. :/ I was seriously disappointed to see that...but then elated to see Ino kicking Kinkaku's ass! :D

Anyhoo...

Chapter Four: Ino

* * *

"So I think we should have a stakeout tonight in front of the rich man's castle. It was my assignment in this mission anyway, and since it's an accurate guess on where those thugs will hit next, it's also beneficial to you, too," Ino decided, walking along Suigetsu. He watched her carefully, ignoring her words. He frowned, frustrated; walking on the right side of Ino was hard: he couldn't see her face beyond her long, frontal bangs. He wondered why she thought that looked good. All she was doing was hiding a pretty face. "Suigetsu?" she looked over at him, knocking him from his thoughts.

"What?"

"Are you good with that plan?" she asked suspiciously. She eyed him up and down, wondering where his mind was, since clearly it wasn't with her.

"What plan?"

Ino frowned, punching him in the jaw again only to watch it explode into water. He smirked at her, after regaining form.

"I think you like watching my Hydration Technique just as much as I do," he noticed casually, sipping on his bottle of water. She rolled her eyes with a sneer, hating to admit he's right.

"Don't change the subject! I have a perfectly good plan and you didn't even listen-"

"Go to the castle. Stakeout. Get comrades and sword back. See I listen-"

"Sword?" she questioned. Her face was swallowed by a monotonous stare. "You're after a sword?" it was posed more as a statement than a question

He scowled. "Don't give me that look. It's important to me."

Ino scoffed, picking up her pace. Suigetsu trailed after her.

"What's so funny?" he mumbled.

She shrugged. "I just peg you as a carefree, non-interested, 'I hate everything'-type-of-guy, that's all. It's just kinda funny to see you worked up over a _sword_," she chuckled, flipping her hair.

"I don't hate everything!" he defended.

"Oh yeah? What _don't _you hate? If I'm not mistaken, you have a _list_ of things you hate," she reminded him, "and you added me to it," she added bitterly in a soft mutter.

He waved his arm nonchalantly at her response, but his reply was merely, "I don't hate everything."

Ino and Suigetsu scaled the forest around the rich man's house, patrolling for any signs of the robbers, Shikamaru and Choji or remnants of one of the two teams being there. After three hours of scanning and coming up with nothing, Suigetsu and Ino took to a tree with intermingled branches, waiting for the night to come as their cloak to scout- and maybe attack.

Suigetsu lazily laid down on a thick branch, sucking on his water bottle and shutting his eyes slowly after staring at the cloudless sky for a few minutes. Ino watched him from two branches above, wondering why he so often stared at the sky. What was so interesting about the sky? There were clouds or no clouds, a sun or a moon and it was blue or black. Nothing worth staring at for as long as he did. And yet, Ino realized, that's when he looked his most peaceful. Sure, according to Ino, he was a rude, impassive, wise-ass-type-of-boy, but when he was being his usual lazy self, lying down, drinking some water and looking at the sky, he seemed...different. More relaxed, maybe? Happy- no, content.

It had been some time since he had opened his eyes. Had he fallen asleep? Ino leaned over to try and get a closer look. For the first time since she had met him he wasn't wasting his time staring at her with that dumb, blank expression. Ino shuddered, realizing that despite all the time she takes to look pretty, she despised when boys looked at her. Judged her. It made her want to cover all of her face rather than just half of it. But now he wasn't looking. Now she could judge him, without having to worry about their gazes meeting. And oh how she's waited for this moment. To finally be able to look Suigetsu in the face and think that he was actually a little bit good-

"So kid," he broke the silence. Ino stopped watching him and replaced her gaze with a sour glare. He was at least reliable: he never ceased to ruin their moments.

"You know my name. You have no excuse to call me that."

"I like kid better, though," he mumbled before continuing, "so why is this team so important to you?" he asked her.

Ino was surprised to hear him ask that. Why did he care? What would he gain from knowing that? She closed her eyes slowly, blinking, thinking about Team Ten.

"They're my team mates, Suigetsu," she whispered nostalgically.

"But you're a ninja. You get placed on a team one day and a completely new team the next. I'm sure you've been with others, haven't you? I mean, I've been with dozens of other teams."

"I've only been with one team. Team Ten. And I wouldn't change that for the world. Shikamaru and Choji: they aren't just my comrades. They're my friends. My best friends," she paused with a smile, thinking of them. Wondering where they were. Wanting so badly to be there. Here wasn't as bad as it was at the beginning, but Suigetsu hardly filled the shoes of Shikamaru and Choji. _Hardly_. "Well? What about you? You've never been with a team you were close to?"

Ino watched his face. His eyes were still closed, but his lips curved downward into a frown. "Well, I have. It was a recent team, actually. At first I didn't care about them at all. At some points I even wanted to kill them. I think I tried once, too. But they grew on me."

"And?"

He frowned some more. "It was a temporary team. And I don't think I'll ever be seeing Taka again."

"And whose fault is that?" Suigetsu opened his eyes. Ino quickly shifted hers away.

"Well whose fault is it that your team split up?" he shot the question back, surprising Ino. She bit her lip in indecision while self-consciously picking at her skirt.

"I don't know, mine? Theirs? Maybe it was just a lose/lose kind of situation."

He scoffed. "Don't kid yourself. It's _always _someones fault. Usually a team captain's, but-"

"Hey! Shikamaru did the best he could in the situation! Choji should have watched more carefully at what I was doing and I-" she paused sadly. "And I shouldn't have left either of them alone with an enemy." Ino pouted.

"Do you really believe that?" he played devil's advocate.

Ino looked at him, slighted. "Teams are supposed to work together. That's why shinobi are placed in units to begin with. That's why we form teams on missions. One person shouldn't be doing everything."

"So then I guess you're all to blame," he concluded, wrapping his arms behind his head and shutting his eyes again. He crossed his feet for maximum casualty.

"How rude," she sniffed.

"Rude or not, it's apparently truthful."

"And you're apparently the biggest ass I've ever met."

"Probably," he agreed. Ino crumpled up some leaves from the branches and spitefully threw them down on him. His only reply was the familiar immature smirk that Ino loathed. It held too many unsaid words. So badly did she want to know what those words were.

Ino leaned up against the trunk of the tree, letting her legs hang off the branch on either side. She attentively watched the mansion, concluding that the robbers were at least smart enough to wait until nightfall to attack. Every now and then she would look two branches down from her at Suigetsu, whom she figured had fallen asleep, seeing as he hadn't made any inappropriate comments in the past hour or so and his lips had fallen from his ungraceful smirk to a relaxed curve. She smiled, watching as he mumbled explicit words in his sleep and every so often, just out of habit, lightly shook his head, his white strands of hair falling over his face.

"Hey, Ino!" a hushed whisper woke her up along with vigorous shaking. Ino swatted his hands away from her shoulders with a soft moan and sleepily rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her hands around his bicep. Suigetsu instinctively swatted her away, a red flush falling over his face.

"Oh look, you didn't ditch me while I was sleeping," she mumbled, unphased by Suigetsu pushing her away. Suigetsu began wondering if she was even conscious.

"Ha, ha," he responded sarcastically. "Is this really the time to be obnoxious?" his voice was a soft purr.

She snorted. "Oh what, you can be an ass twenty-four-seven and I can't?"

"Exactly."

Ino opened her eyes, barely seeing Suigetsu, despite him being inches from her face. "Huh?" she mumbled. "What's going on?" How long had she been asleep? Apparently long enough for the sky to fall from light to dark. It felt like she had seen daylight only a few minutes ago, but apparently it was hours ago. "Time please?"

"Shut up and look down there," he pointed downwards at the shoulder of the entrance to the mansion. There were two of the robbers. Ino gasped softly as Suigetsu pointed out another patch where two more were.

"Where are the other two? There are six bandits total," she told him.

He shrugged. "I've only spotted those four. But the others can't be far behind. I doubt they'd split up and have two rob and kill while four stand guard."

"Well how many people does it take to kill?" she asked rhetorically.

"Depends on how tough the prey is," he responded anyway, receiving a sharp, disapproving look from Ino. She pulled her legs up below her, crouching. She sprung forward but he caught her quickly before she could leave the tree.

"What is it?" she spat in a hushed tone.

"What are you doing?"

"Idiot! What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going after them. Let's split up- I'll take east and you stay west to scout. We'll meet back here in an hour or so unless one of us engages the enemy-"

"Stupid kid!" he scolded. "What did you learn from splitting up from your little friends Shikamaru and Choji? Obviously nothing. But you've gotta realize splitting up is an awful idea."

She rolled her eyes. "Suigetsu." he shuddered; Ino had the keen talent to make his name sound profane. "I don't know your fighting style and you don't know mine. We'll just get in each other's way! Besides, we're after different things. I want my team mates and you want your sword."

"I know what I want, lady. Don't tell me what I want," he growled bitterly.

"Then what _do_ you want? Because apparently I don't know what-"

"We should stick together," he pressed earnestly.

"Don't be chicken, it'll be fine. We're ninja and they aren't-"

"Please."

"Suigetsu," she replied coolly. "Get your act together."

"You aren't going off on your own. I won't let you. You said that that's how you got into this mess in the first place. Why would you try the same tactic twice when you know it didn't work to begin with?"

"Why do you care?"

He rolled his eyes, frustrated. "You ask a lot of questions, kid."

"And you leave a lot unanswered. If you aren't going to help me, then go away." She leaned forward to jump, only to be stopped by Suigetsu again. "Suigetsu!"

"You can scold me and punch me and yell at me all you want. Splitting up is a bad idea and you know it," he told her sternly, gripping onto her arm tightly. It was beginning to hurt; but Ino didn't dare say anything; he was acting uncharacteristically serious. But she didn't care. Now he was beginning to piss her off. Why would he have come this far if he wasn't going to actually help her? Is he just being an even bigger ass than normal and wasting her time?

"I told you," she said quietly through her grit teeth. "I'm looking for Shikamaru and Choji. You're looking for your sword. You said it was precious to you-"

"It is."

"Then we should go look for it. If we split up, there's more of a chance we'll find it," she tried to reason with him. What on earth was going on with him?

"No," he retorted sharply. "Just no."

"Why not?" she demanded loudly, forgetting her cover.

Suigetsu looked away quickly, fearing if either of them got any angrier things could get ugly - fast. But she wasn't listening. What was she thinking? Damn she was stubborn. She should just shut up and agree with him before she really pushes him over the edge. Why didn't she understand that? He took a deep breath to simmer down his frustration. "Listen kid, I've already lost something precious to me. And you know what lady? If you happen to end up missing, guess what! I'm gunna have to go find you. And that'll be damn hard to do because I'll be pissed at you for going off on your own in the first place."

"It's not your duty to do that. You won't have to come find me-" She wasn't listening. He just needed her to hear him out. He breathed in again as he tightened his grip on her arms and pushed her back to the tree. She quickly stopped talking and the atmosphere altered into a dead silence. Suigetsu pressed his body against hers, pinning her to the tree.

"Yes, I will," he whispered stoicly.

Ino opened her mouth to speak, only no words would come. She clamped down quickly, biting her lip before trying again. "Why? You don't know me."

"Trust me." Ino's negativity towards Suigetsu flared up at this response. This empty response. It was like that smirk of his. There was nothing from it she could reach. Nothing she wanted to know. Not even anything she didn't want to know. It was void of anything. It was as if he didn't say anything at all but, at the same time, it told her he was hiding secrets. But what would he hide from her? What on earth _was_ there to hide from her? In her eyes, they were just two people after the same thing. But she was beginning to think he felt differently.

Suigetsu rested his forehead on the tree behind Ino, letting their cheeks brush as he passed. Ino stayed perfectly still. This wasn't a joke. This wasn't like the last time he pinned her against a tree. No, _that _was a joke. But this. This wasn't a joke. Even a sick creep like Suigetsu couldn't play this off so well. No. This was serious. He was serious. Ino licked her lips. What was he doing?

"Sui-"

Suigetsu moved his hand away from her arm, letting it gently graze her thigh as he lifted it up to her face. It hovered over her mouth, Ino anticipating him to cover her lips so she couldn't speak. She figured he thought she was annoying. But she didn't know she annoyed him this much. But instead of covering her mouth, his hand continued to move and he gingerly swept his fingers across her jaw, pulling her bangs back away from her face.

He swallowed dryly. What was he doing? Suigetsu shut his eyes in confusion and humiliation, despite knowing she couldn't see his face anyway. But he did it. He did the one thing he was trying to save himself from doing since he met her. Suigetsu kept his cool hand against her warm, soft skin, her soft, silky hair through his fingers. He was dying to get closer...what was he _doing_? Suigetsu frowned slightly. Even he didn't know anymore.

But he knew he liked it.

Suigetsu pulled his head from the tree slowly, marinating in the moment. Could he do it? Could he top off his moment? He moved his head closer, his forehead now resting lightly on hers. Her eyes were closed, to his dismay. That was the only way he could read her- with only her eyelids showing he had no way of knowing if she wanted this. Did she want him to leave? Or was she anticipating the same moment he was? He hoped so; in his head it had already happened. And it was perfect. He nuzzled his nose closer to hers.

"Ino," he breathed gingerly, leaning in closely to her lips. He could feel her short, light breaths, noticing her slight gasp at hearing her name. It was the first time he had ever called her Ino rather than 'lady' or 'kid'. He took a small step back, thrown off by hearing his own heartbeat. Was it out of his chest or was it just him? He let his lower lip graze her chin before he pulled away quickly in fear. Suigetsu kept his head down, not daring to look her in the eyes, knowing only the judgement he deserved would be waiting for him. He shut his eyes in remorse as he turned to leave.

"I'll go search the west side."


	5. An Impossibility

Chapter Five: An Impossibility

Suigetsu jumped away quickly, racing as fast and as stealthily as he possibly could. He couldn't do it. He had failed. He had fell flat on his face in front of her and he didn't ever want her to look at him again, knowing only that enticing, beautiful, highly judgemental smirk would grace her pretty little lips. He could picture her laughing. From the moment he had muttered an, "I'll go search the west side" he could picture her bursting out into laughter. Mocking him. Of course that's what she would do. She thought she was better than him- and she was right. As if she would ever like some punk from the Land of Waves. _What was he thinking?_

His mind prodded him to delve deeper onto the subject, but he could only feel the blood boiling in his veins. If he thought about it any more, he was going to have no choice but to turn around and do something about this. He wasn't sure what, but generally when he let his "wild side" control his actions, nothing good ever came from it. He shook his head clear of Ino, focusing on where his sword might be. He had to find it. He had to find it and become the leader of the reformed Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He just had to. Now that his dignity was gone, it was all he had left.

Suigetsu stopped short, diving into a thick patch of bushes, praying the enemies passing by hadn't heard him. He could hear them whispering plans to each other, every now and then snickering. He frowned bitterly. He would kill them all the moment he got that sword back.

Their footsteps drew nearer and nearer, louder and louder. He rolled his eyes. Figures; who was the one who didn't want to split up in the first place? Him. And now who was about to engage in battle weaponless without a comrade? Him. Gee, thanks Ino.

Suigetsu brushed away a few leaves, leaving him space to see. Two of the six bandits were nonchalantly walking by, strutting with smug looks on their faces as if they were already sitting on a fresh new load of cash. He recognized one as the leader.

"Leave him then. He's useless anyway," he had said about Suigetsu the night his sword had been unmercifully ripped away from him. They had left him there, slipping away into unconsciousness. Because he wouldn't die. Because he had refused to become another victim. And yet, he had become one anyway.

And then they stole his sword.

The other thug with the leader was a mystery to Suigetsu; he had never seen him before. He was probably the jerk that took Suigetsu out. The one who had said, "He isn't dying!" as he brutally kicked Suigetsu, his efforts all cultivating into Suigetsu melting into slush. No, that man wasn't recognizable. But what was recognizable was what was on his back.

The Executioner's Blade.

Suigetsu clenched both fists into the ground, dirt rising up under his fingernails. He sunk his sharp teeth into his cheek and looked away, knowing if he watched that ungrateful, undeserving, hateful ass parade around with _his_ blade on his back, he'd do something irrational. And now was no time to be irrational.

Oh, screw it.

Suigetsu leaped from the bushes, ready to give that retarded thug the gift of his left hook. The other man snatched the Executioner's blade from off his back and slammed it to the ground, blocking Suigetsu.

He grit his teeth, his fists clenched.

"You're going to fight me with my own sword? My own pride and joy?" Suigetsu laughed evilly, feeling the blood rush to his head. He was going to enjoy this. A lot.

With no response, the bandit lifted the sword about his head and swung. Suigetsu quickly dodged the blow and skid back a few yards. Jeeze. This guy's technique - or lack thereof - was pathetic. It wasn't even laughable, although Suigetsu did anyway. This was the most excitement he's seen since Taka.

"Wait-" the leader took a few steps forward towards Suigetsu. "You're familiar."

"And you're an ass."

"Where do I know you from?" he ignored Suigetsu's quick remark.

"You stole that sword from me!"

The leader tapped his finger against his dirty, pointed chin, trying to think back. "Ah yes," he smeared. "You're the one that's like, watery, right?" he asked rather casually. Suigetsu grinned. He could feel a tingle of adrenaline race from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes.

"Yeah. That's me."

The leader shared in his grin. "Excellent. I was regretting keeping you alive anyway. You know too much."

"Good luck," Suigetsu snorted.

"I don't need it," the leader said, snapping his fingers. "I'm going on ahead. You and your sword can take care of this, correct?" he asked his lackey, smirking ever so devilishly at Suigetsu as he thickened the word 'your'. Your, as in, _not _Suigetsu's. If Suigetsu wasn't so hyped up on his own blood lust, that remark probably would probably would've thrown him over the edge. Come to think of, he seemed to already be far over it, free falling.

"Fine by me," Suigetsu said slyly as the leader walked away. "But know this, coward: you can run and hide all you want. But I can't die by the likes of you. And the moment I get my sword back I'm killing every last one of you!" The leader frowned, trying hard to conceal his slight pang of worry. "It's a promise!" Suigetsu took a step forward, cracking his neck as he did. The leader turned around on his heel and quickened his pace. He soon broke out into a sprint, leaving his henchman to take the brunt of the battle.

"So it's you first, then?" Suigetsu asked in a calm yet excited voice.

The man swallowed hard and tightened his grip on the blade. "You don't scare me," he sputtered. "You don't!" He lifted the sword above his head, smashing it down towards Suigetsu, keeping the bladed side in the earth. Suigetsu leaped up on the flat edge, racing towards the man. He quickly kicked him in the jaw and then the neck, wanting more from this fight. This was just too easy.

The man stumbled backwards, releasing his hold on the Executioner's blade and letting it fall. Suigetsu laughed meanly, picking up the blade. He felt his pulse surge like lightening. He was finally being reunited with his blade. It was finally in it's rightful place: his hands.

With ease, Suigetsu swung the blade over his head. He expertly flung the sword around and over and caught the man by the neck in the circular hole in the middle of his weapon. He drove the man in a tree trunk, the man's head slamming against the thick oak until a trickle of blood flowed slowly down his neck.

Suigetsu scoffed. "Not much of a fight," he complained. "I was at least hoping to break a sweat here." He watched as the man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and the nearly-unconscious body slowly slid to the ground.

He chuckled happily, swung the Executioner's blade onto his back and walked away, humming in a slightly dissatisfied tone. He heard the man groan loudly, trying to cry out in pain - or at least in help - but barely being able to make a sound. Suigetsu turned around and stared at the tortured soul, pondering. Should he just get it over with now or wait until he's collected all six of the robbers and kill them at once?

Kill him now.

Suigetsu smirked contently with a pompous swagger. He unhooked the blade from his back and slammed it down into the ground in front of the man's face, giving him a taste of what was to come.

"I'll do you a favor and just end it now-"

"You know, you're- you're pretty good with that sword," he muttered almost silently, "for just a kid, I mean."

Suigetsu frowned deeply. A _kid_? Suigetsu wasn't a kid!

"Since I'm in a foully elated mood right now and you're in no position to run away, I'd probably think twice about pissing me off if I were you," Suigetsu warned him. "I mean, I'm gunna kill you either way but, I can make it even more painful if I want to, is all."

"I guess you really do need training in order to fight with it," he went on, ignoring Suigetsu's words. "You were a lot more skilled in a battle of weapons that that other ninja I fought the other day. She was awful. And her team mates were just as pathetic. Although I will admit, she had me there for a second. But her comrades sucked. If anything, they just brought her down."

"Ino?" Suigetsu whispered questionably. He had forgotten about her. "A blonde girl, you mean?" he asked the wounded man. The man shut his eyes in thought and nodded slowly, recalling her. "She had team mates with her?" he asked, although it was more of a deadpanned statement.

"Yeah one had spiky black hair and the other was some fat guy. I think I caught one of their names...Cho- Cho..."

"Choji?"

"Yeah, sure."

Suigetsu pulled his sword onto his back and stepped away from the man. He swiftly turned and walked away, his fists threatening to clench.

Ino. He had the exact information she needed right at his fingertips. He could have gotten their whereabouts from that loser who had the audacity to grace himself with the presence of Suigetsu's blade. He could figure out where her team mates were, tell her and be her hero. But for what? A small moment? All she'd do is just run back to whatever village she's from and then he'd never see her again. But she was bound to find them somehow. Or at least, bound to find out that Suigetsu passed a chance of finding them. And then not only would she leave, but she'd leave bitterly. On a bad note.

But wasn't their relationship - or lack thereof - already left on a bad note? Did he even _want _to help her? Suigetsu sighed dismally, knowing the answer: No. He didn't want to help her at all. He just didn't. And he wouldn't. In fact, he hated her. He hated how narcissistic she was. He hated how rude, inconsistent and independent she was. He hated that his new favorite hobby was watching her sleep. He hated how he was willing to buy her breakfast. He hated her beautiful face and her long, blonde hair. Her shiny, blue eyes. He hated her! Every fiber of her being! There was nothing good about her that was worth not hating. And that's why she was number one on his hate list. Hell, he even hated her more than he hated those bandits for trying to steal his sword. She was awful. Heinous. She was the devil.

Suigetsu frowned even more until his entire face was twisted into a sour, bitter scowl.

But what was the really problem here? Was he seriously in rage over a pretty face? Her short skirt that complimented her shape even more when she walked than when she stood still? Or was it the fact that, unlike with other girls, he actually _watched_ her walk away? That he actually _wanted_ to kiss that pretty face? No. No, that wasn't it at all. He hated her because she managed to snatch his heart right out of his chest in a mere day and in the heat of the moment he couldn't even steal it back. And not to mention he couldn't even _find _hers. And even if he found it, he'd never be able to steal it. It was an impossibility. And that was a proven fact.

He quickened his pace, ever so tempted to look back but knowing if he did he'd only run there. He had to walk away. He had his sword. He had gotten exactly what he came here for. Now he could move on to Kisame's Sharkskin. And then the next. And then the next. And then he could finally be recognized as the leader of the reformed Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. And he would be happy...right?

Wrong.

Ino.

Suigetsu stopped walking. He turned around towards the man.

"Stop walking, Suigetsu," he muttered to himself, quickening his pace. The man falling unconscious was getting closer and closer. "Stop walking, idiot! Save yourself," he told himself. But he wouldn't listen. His mind had it right but them rest of him was being rewired to a different station. Suigetsu's heart pounded loudly in his chest.

Ino would eventually go home. With her team mates. Without Suigetsu. And he'd go home too- well, he'd find someplace to go. Regardless of where he went, he knew she wouldn't be there. So there was no reason to harp on it. He had been broken away from her. She chose to split up. Now they never have to meet each other again. It could be a clean sweep from here on out.

Suigetsu began running, only to stop quickly, finally feeling the weight of the blade on his back. It's been a while since he felt it. He had gotten used to walking around without that extra weight.

This was an omen. It must be. A heavy sword slowing you down? He had to stop. He had to leave her alone because if not she was just going to leave him alone first.

"Shut up," he told himself.

Suigetsu ripped Zabuza's blade off his back and threw it to the ground, racing back towards the man.

"Hey! Where are they! Where are Shikamaru and Choji?"

* * *

A/N: Short chapter. And it's kind of late (sorry!) I had a lot of ways this chapter could go, but I decided I needed to spend some time working on Suigetsu alone(: It was actually pretty fun. I debated putting it into his POV because I used a lot of tough-guy kind of adjectives and word play in this chapter, as if it were already in his perspective, but I decided against it...although this chapter is very Suigetsu-y. (:

And yes, clearly I suck at making battle scenes. I tried to make it quick and not like, ridiculously gory...but we are talking about Suigetsu here, aka: the second coming of the demon, a mass-murdering machine, the guy even Sasuke couldn't convince to stop killing despite Sasuke being a killing machine himself...etc. It's hard not to get a little_ teensy_ bit gory...but I hope I did that small section of a fight some justice.

Until next time(:

Please review friends!


	6. The Castaway

Well, I decided since I'm not too great at timely updates, that I would just write a rather long chapter to allocate for my, well, untimely-ness :p Thank you for those of you who have read, reviewed and stuck by this long-trudging story since the beginning! (: You're my favorites (:

Sorry for the ridiculously long time period between chapters five and six. I've been dramatically trudging through SAT's, prom and exams. So this week I chose between my final exam French project or the next chapter of Collision. (guess which one I chose! :D )

Anyway, without further ado...

Chapter Six: The Castaway

* * *

Ino watched austerely as another one of the bandits fell backwards, unconscious, and onto the body of his cohort. She exhaled deeply, marinating in her triumph. She stared blankly at the four thugs lying immobilized on the ground.

After finding two of the six robbers, she used her Mind Transfer Technique to swap bodies with one of the enemies and used his brute strength against his accomplices to attack. Once three of the six were down, she simply transferred her soul back into her own body and took down the last one. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

After a short smirk and flip of the hair, Ino swiftly turned on her heel and strutted away, still captivated by her own victory. Who knew she had it in her? Certainly not her. Then again, she had never had to fight alone. Usually she had Asuma-sensei or Shikamaru or Choji by her side to help her out. She had never had to rely on herself before. It felt good; no, liberating. She felt...different.

Ino shook her head clear of her new found confidence. There were still two bandits out there. She knew she could at least identify one as the leader of the pack, seeing as she could easily recognize him. He was the jerk who attacked Shikamaru. And that other guy with the giant sword on his back that she fought. He was still out there, too. Together, no doubt. But they were less important than who she truly wanted to find: Shikamaru and Choji. Were they still together, or were they split apart from each other too?

Ino looked around silently at the dark trees and sky above her. There were no stars in the sky that night. Not like that night by the river when she fell asleep next to Suigetsu. There were countless stars then. But now the sky was alone.

Like her.

Ino shivered and picked up her pace to a quick trot. Maybe Suigetsu was right- maybe splitting up was a bad idea. But then again, did she really want to be near him right now? After all, he did try to make a hefty advancement on their relationship a little while ago. Was she ready to face that? How could she? He was probably expecting a response. And she had none. There were no words to utter that could explain how completely confused and caught off guard she was. How unexpected of him to do that. It was unfamiliar and weird; no boy had ever tried to get that close to her. Ever. Why did she want that? Why did she always try to win the affection of Sasuke? Requited love was the most terrifying thing in the world! There was too much pressure to perform. And she knew that now; she was glad Suigetsu hesitated to kiss her. She was thankful he stopped and left quickly. She wouldn't be able to handle it if he stayed. She finally realized it: she was not mature enough for love.

But it couldn't be helped. Didn't she owe it to him to at least show her face? He was putting his own life in danger by coming here with her just to find her team mates, two people he'll never know.

But regardless of what Ino knew was the most mature thing to do- face him - she knew it was inevitable; she was going to try to avoid Suigetsu at all costs. After all, if she could take down four B-rank bandits all by herself, she could find her team all by herself too. She didn't need Suigetsu, nor was she ready to face him.

Ino trudged on slowly, trying to make the least amount of noise possible so she wouldn't be heard. She stopped abruptly, hearing the rustle of bushes near by. A quiet swoop rushed past her ear and she looked around cautiously.

She wasn't alone.

Ino whipped out a kunai and prepared for an inadequate ambush.

"Ino!" a hushed whispered called her name from above. She looked up, but could see nothing in the darkness above. If only she had a star or two to light up this dark forest.

Ino shot the kunai from her finger and let it smash into the trunk of the tree.

"Get away from me Suige-" a warm hand from behind clamped over her mouth and grabbed her by the waist, holding her too tight for her to break free from. Another rustle came from the tree. Her kunai had missed.

This certainly was not Suigetsu. How could he be in two places at once? No; it was the last two thugs from the gang. The leader and the guy with the huge sword, she was sure.

Ino vigorously fought the wrist holding her mouth shut, trying to free herself. She ripped the hand from her face and shouted.

"You damn bandits! Show yourselves, cowards-" the hand slapped over her mouth again and another rustle came from the tree.

Choji leapt down from the tree, a bag of potato chips in tow and an innocently confused look on his face. Ino's eyes widened and she wrestled around to find Shikamaru to be the culprit holding her hostage. She smiled brightly, only to get a troublesome, weak smile in return.

"Shikamaru!" Ino joyfully wrapped her arms around his neck and beckoned Choji to join for a Team Ten hug session, an offer to which he happily complied to.

"Ino! Where have you been?" Shikamaru unwrapped her arms from his neck and he and Choji stared at her, longing for a response.

"Around," she shrugged casually. What was she supposed to say? 'Oh hi guys, long time no see. While you were gone I met some kid named Suigetsu and we've been hanging around looking for bandits' asses to kick'? Her quick answer displeased Shikamaru, but he had no effort to fight her on it. Instead, he accepted her pitiful answer and moved on. "So where have you two been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" she exclaimed.

"Around," Choji responded, a smirk on his face, using her own words against her. Ino rolled her eyes and pouted her lip.

"I really _have_ been around. I've been fine, seriously," she beckoned earnestly. "Just leave it alone."

"You haven't been with the bandits have you?" Shikamaru asked, looking around the area suspiciously.

"Not at all. After Choji's jutsu sent us all flying in different directions I was knocked unconscious. I woke up a day or so ago and I've been looking for you two everywhere," she explained, making a quick note to leave out the Suigetsu part. They did need to know about him just yet. "When did you guys meet up? Just now?"

"No, we've been together since the start," Shikamaru replied. "Choji's jutsu might have sent us flying in different directions, but it didn't knock either one of us unconscious so we were able to buy some time and find each other."

Ino smiled with a quick twitch of the eye. She fastened her fist tightly and sent it pounding into Shikamaru's arm. She clutched tightly onto Choji's collar. "You guys found each other right away and then _ditched_ me? What kind of comrades- no, what kind of _friends_ are you? I would never do that to either of you two, not in a million years. I can't even believe you people! And here I was worried sick about you two-"

"We _did_ look for you," Shikamaru curtailed, rubbing his sore arm affectionately and sliding onto the ground, too lazy to stand up any longer.

"I don't believe you," Ino shot back.

"It's true, it's true! Of course we had to wait some time for the dust to clear; my jutsu mowed down a lot of trees and it brought up a lot of dirt into the air. Besides, it's not like it was safe to be searching around for you- after all, there were still killer bandits out there." Ino listened judgementally and let his words go into one ear and out the other. Choji, seeing that his efforts were wasted, gave up and sat down next to Shikamaru.

"The only logical assumption was that they had captured you. So that's the assumption we stuck with. We looked for you in the dust and then went back to camp and waited for morning to search again. Ino, we haven't even worked on this mission. The only reason we're here at this rich guy's mansion is because we figured the robbers dragged you here as a captive."

Ino blinked dumbly. "You never stopped to wonder if I was dead?" she asked in a small voice.

"Never. There's no way you'd go down without a fight, Ino," Choji chimed in, tossing a few more handfuls of chips in his mouth. Ino accepted their explanation with a smile and sat down. There was no point in being angry with them now anyway. They were all reunited and could finally get this mission over with and then go back home and relax. Things were back to normal. Back to the way they should be.

"Alright so we're back together then," she started. "So what's the plan in finishing this mission?" she asked. Her and Choji swapped looks and then stared expectantly at their strategist.

Shikamaru yawned and fell backwards.

"Who knows."

"You should," Ino responded.

"I think we're safe to wait it out here, maybe take a nap and make a game plan in the morning-"

"That's bull!" Ino interjected. "Shikamaru," she pressed, "there are robbers out here! Robbers very good at assassinating rich guys! And we're on a rich guy's property! Do you see any connections to what I'm saying?"

"Well when we were coming by here we saw a pile of four robbers on the ground," Ino smiled smugly and chose to keep the guys out of the loop when it came to her personal victory, "and we also saw the other two robbers near the entrance to the gate."

"Which gate? The gate to get into the property or the gate to get into the mansion?"

"Property. Either way, no worries. Some other dude was there. He kicked one of the guys asses. The guy that you fought - you know, the one with the giant sword?"

Ino whipped around at Choji. He stared innocently with a light flush.

"What?" he whined "Why are you staring at me like that?" he shoved a chip in his mouth nervously.

"What 'other dude'?" Ino asked quickly and coldly.

"Some kid with whitish hair, kinda tall, purple shirt, condescending look on his face..." Shikamaru trailed off with another yawn as he cradled his head in his hands and looked up at the dense tree canopy above their heads. "He definitely wasn't one of the bandits, seeing as it took him about three minutes to take down the big, stupid one."

"Yeah he looked like he was gunna engage the leader in battle next, so we left him alone. Hey, if someone's gunna help our cause, why not take his help? Maybe they have something captive of his just like us and he's fighting them off for revenge," Choji suggested. "Either way, our mission is done."

Ino stood up quickly. Shaky knees sent her stumbling backwards but she refused to fall.

Suigetsu.

"Ino." Shikamaru sat up and stared intently. "What's wrong?"

Ino swallowed and gave in to equivocation. "I've met him recently," she said in almost a whisper. Choji and Shikamaru shared quizzical glances. "We should go help him! He could be killed!"

The shared another glance and rolled their eyes.

"Don't give me that look! I'll go do it myself if I have to!" Ino shouted. Shikamaru and Choji stood up in unison.

"No, Ino. We just got reunited. Some silly kid you 'met recently' isn't any reason to split up again," Shikamaru tried to reason, his voice level and calm. Ino's expression flared up and her jaw tightened.

"Are we not shinobi? Are we not supposed to help?"

"We don't know enough about him to trust him. Just because he's against the bandits doesn't mean he's on our side."

"He _is _on our side!" Ino pleaded.

"If it makes you feel better," Choji interrupted Ino and Shikamaru's glaring contest with a meek shrug, "he seemed to be a good fighter. He looked like he knew what he was doing. I doubt they'll kill him off. He'll be fine."

Ino smashed her teeth to the inside of her lip. They weren't going to listen to her. They didn't understand. They had absolutely no connection to Suigetsu whatsoever and they never would. They would never know him the way Ino did. They would never see that underneath his apathetic, rude, pompous behaviour there was a charming, decent guy, willing to help. Willing to fight and stick together through thick and thin - even if he had only met you two hours prior.

Suigetsu. Ino turned around and cupped her head in her hands. What had she done? She had dragged him into her mess. He was helping her find her comrades without any compensation. Or even gratitude! And why? Because he wanted to be closer to her than any boy she had ever known before. He wanted to be everything she ever wanted for herself. But she still didn't accept him. Why did he like her so much? Ino looked back and only recognized the rude comments, the mean looks she gave him, the bitter thoughts she felt towards him. She wasn't kind or considerate to him once despite how he went above and beyond for her. She was ungrateful. She wasn't worth his attention, his efforts, his love. He was wasting his time on someone so ugly. On someone terrified to love him back.

Ino was unsure now of how she felt. But there were three things she _was_ certain of: one. Whether she was ready to face him or not, he deserved it. He was going out of his way to help her and he deserved a response. He opened up his heart to her and she acted as if she had no idea what it was. Two. She was going to have to do this on her own. Shikamaru and Choji would never understand. And three. Every moment she spent far away from him, every moment he spent fighting to help her, every moment she wasted weighing the odds, she realized she was beginning to fall in love with him. Suigetsu. A boy she had known for two days.

"Ino," Choji popped Ino out of her thoughts. "We're getting out of here."

* * *

"Hey! Where are they! Where are Shikamaru and Choji?" Suigetsu jogged back towards the downtrodden man, softly panting on the forest floor. "Where are they?"

The man's soft, short breaths turned into quick heaves as if he were trying to laugh. Finally, through his winded lungs, a deep laugh was able to make its way to his voice. Suigetsu eyed him intensively.

"What's so funny?" he demanded curiously. He couldn't imagine why this guy was laughing - he was nearing death, and Suigetsu could easily kill him on the spot if he wanted to.

The man's short, bellowing laugh weakened into his soft, short pants again and an eerie smile crept onto his bleeding lips. He glared evilly at Suigetsu with a wicked smirk on his face.

"Because, you fool," he breathed, "you let your guard down." As the words left the mans mouth, Suigetsu instinctively took steps backwards and a rustle of leaves came from above in the trees. Suigetsu looked up quickly, and his eyes pivoted back down to the man in quick intervals. He prayed to God a saving grace was in that tree and not an enemy. He prayed to God it was Ino. How stupid he had been to leave his sword behind his trail.

The faint, familiar sound of a lightening current fizzled in Suigetsu's eardrums and reminded him of a former team mate. Strongly doubting it was him and yet hoping it wasn't anyone worse, Suigetsu took another large leap backwards- but it was too late. The leader of the gang stealthily jumped from the trees towards Suigetsu at an amazing speed. No ordinary human could move that fast or that far. Only a ninja could.

Suigetsu stumbled backwards again, hoping to run into his sword. He looked up and saw the leader of the bandits, his fist full of electricity: Suigetsu's weakness.

"So you aren't just a thug- you're a ninja, too," Suigetsu clarified, tightening his muscles. The leader looked at him wickedly.

"You catch on quick kid," he purred. "I'm from the Lightening Country, the Village Hidden in the Clouds. I was kicked out from there after suspected espionage so I decided to spend the rest of my days collecting a nice pile of cash to retire on. So far, I've been reaching my dream pretty quickly," he explained. As if Suigetsu cared.

"So that's why you're in the Land of Waves. Because it's easy for a ninja with a lightening affinity to take on a shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist. It's no secret that the majority of us - except for a lucky few - are prone to having a weakness against lightening."

"That's right. And I'm suspecting you're no different," the leader shot a bolt of lightening straight through Suigetsu's chest and watched as his body - unable to liquefy and dodge the attack - fell to the ground with a hallow thud.


	7. Shadow

A/N: Hiya! If anyone still reads this story, I'm sorry for the late update. I had to get through all my ending studies and all my finals and end of the year parties. I haven't forgotten about this! And I'm not the type of person to leave something unfinished (not that this is the last chapter, but you know)

Chapter Seven: Shadow

* * *

Shikamaru and Choji continued to swap unsettling glances at one another. In the thick of the forest, Team Ten trudged slowly into the outskirts of the rich man's castle. After Shikamaru quickly surveyed the castle up close to check if the bandits had succeeded in killing the rich politician - as far as Shikamaru was concerned, they hadn't - he regrouped with Choji and a very irritated Ino and made their way towards Konoha.

The night was silent aside from Choji's incessant chomping on potato chips and Ino's loud stomps reluctantly following he and Shikamaru at a fifteen foot distance. Despite Ino's best efforts to persuade her team to go find Suigetsu, the boys overruled her judgement and were dragging her back to their village, their mission deemed a success.

Shikamaru sighed. "Ino-"

"Don't speak to me."

Shikamaru shared another glance with Choji and did as Ino had said, knowing there was no reasoning with her. He knew Ino well - he was fully aware that when Ino found something - or in this case, _someone_ - to believe in, she was passionate about it to the point of no return. No arguing, lecturing or pleading would get Ino to see that going back to Konoha was the right thing to do. Shikamaru shook his head and let out a slight groan. When Ino become stubborn, there's no winning, which Shikamaru found to be quite troublesome.

* * *

The swift, cruel slashing of a blade whistled into Suigetsu's unconscious ears. That oh so familiar sound. A sound which, when the blade was in his hands, sounded beautiful. Like a symphony. When the blade was in someone else's hands, however, the noise only seemed twisted and unreasonable.

Another cold slash of a blade. What was going on? Was someone being killed? Was he being killed? Was he _already_ killed? A faint, rational voice in the back of Suigetsu's mind told him if he were already dead, he wouldn't be talking to himself.

Suigetsu let out a small gasping, groan and his eyes fluttered, but stayed closed. They were too heavy to open and if he were the victim of these cold slashes of a blade, which he was still uncertain about, he was pretty sure he didn't want to witness his own death.

An odd, trumpeting sound called out, like a bird singing. Like someone summoning someone else. Who was around him to do that? Suigetsu slowly and quietly thought about this...who was the last person he had come in contact with? Wasn't he still with Taka? - No, that was a while ago. Where the hell was he? Ino...Ino? No, she's probably long gone too. Ah, yes. Suigetsu caught a memory of the leader of a group of bandits piercing him through the chest with a Lightening Style Jutsu. So that bird-like sound...he's calling someone. The other bandits?

"Hmm...no one's coming. Cowards," a voice talked aloud and came into Suigetsu's ears at different pitches. His brain was still trying to process his unconsciousness. He was getting tunnel vision in his ears. Suigetsu groaned again and instinctively slapped his hand over his ear to stop the ringing.

"That rich guy." Suigetsu's eyes shot open. He was lying on the ground in the dead of night. On a bed of grass...a bed of grass? Wait a minute- he didn't collapse on grass, did he? No. He was attacked while he was on the dirt road leading to the politician's house. He was moved?

Suigetsu's eyesight blurred for a few moments and after a few blinks he was able to see clearly: the rich politician lay dead on the ground about fifty feet in front of him. His Executioner's Blade was triumphantly stuck into the ground beside his body, blood-smeared. In a flash, the blade was gone. There was a short rustle in the bushes and the leader jumped in front of Suigetsu, overshadowing the moon's dim light.

"I'll assume you're the one who killed all my fellow thieves?" he speculated. Suigetsu wanted to tell him he was wrong - he hadn't killed anyone tonight...but his voice wouldn't come. The leader shrugged. "Don't worry, I'm not mad," he smiled wickedly. "It just means more money for me!" he laughed. Suigetsu concluded that if he had the ability to move his numb, tingling body, he'd punch the guy. Here and now. And he'd kill him in revenge for using his Executioner's Blade to murder someone who posed no threat to him. But he couldn't. Because he couldn't move. All he could do was drool out of his limp mouth.

The leader stopped laughing maniacally and looked back down at Suigetsu, towering over him. "However, I still wish to kill you." He frowned. "You've tampered with my plans for far too long and I'm putting an end to this. I don't need some vigilante teenager chasing me down at every stop to the bank I make. So," he drifted off happily, tightening his grip on Suigetsu's blade, "I'm going to have to kill you now."

The leader raised the large sword over Suigetsu.

_'So this is how it ends?_' Suigetsu thought. _'In irony? Me being killed with my own blade? Ugh. I always hated irony. Then again, I guess I wouldn't want to die any other way._'

"Say goodnight!" The leader screeched, swiping the blade down from the sky and into Suigetsu.

'_Then again, who said I was ready to die?_'

* * *

Ino stopped walking and clutched her chest tightly, feeling a pang. A shift in the universe. That same dark, chilling feeling she had when Asuma-sensei had died. Shikamaru and Choji sensed her newfound dismay and turned around.

"Ino. What's wrong?" Choji asked her.

Ino made no response. She stood silently, clutching her chest, her knees shaking and her lip quivering.

"We need to go back," she responded. Choji opened his mouth to respond, but had no words good enough to get through to her. He turned to Shikamaru in aid, who had his hands passively in his pockets and an ever-present frown on his face.

"Ino, no." Was his only retort. "There's nothing I can say to deter you or convince you this is a bad idea, and I know that. So I'll save my breath. No. We aren't going back."

Ino continued to shake and bowed her head dismally. How could they find her to be the stubborn one? Weren't they doing the exact same thing to her? No.. they were worse. Far worse. Why? Because they weren't just being stubborn about not turning back. They were being cowards. Had they no value of human life? They were shinobi! Shinobi are ninja who took an oath to protect innocent life whether you have a connection with them or not! Were they forgetting everything they were taught?

"You..." she grit her teeth. "Are you people forgetting everything we've lost?" she yelled furiously. Choji and Shikamaru stared at her, stunned. "Aren't you Asuma's students? You're just going to leave a comrade behind?" she breathed heavily and glared and them both for a minute, trying to regain some sort of composure. "You may have forgotten any morale Asuma-sensei taught us, but I haven't. And I'm not leaving him behind. Not Asuma-sensei and not Suigetsu."

Shikamaru calmed his stunned expression and his frown returned. "Asuma may have been loyal, but he was also rational. There's nothing more we can do here and for the given circumstances of this mission, it was a success. Konoha is safe and we completed the task the Village Hidden in the Mist asked of us: to stop the bandits. We're going home."

Ino turned her back to them. "Fine. Then have it your way. Then go home. I'm already gone, too." The shadow clone exploded into a burst of fog.

Shikamaru stood with his mouth agape. A shadow clone? A shadow clone.

"Dammit!" Shikamaru cursed. "I knew something was off," he grumbled.

"She used a shadow clone," Choji stated dumbly. "She must have gone off to find her friend. How long do you think she's been gone?"

"Since I left to survey the castle to see if the politician was still alive," he remarked in frustration. It was the only logical response he could produce.

Choji shook his head. "No way...I was with her the entire time! I swear! I would've been able to tell if she was making a Shadow Clone!" he defended.

"Well at some point, she was able to. And she fooled us both. We have to go find her, and hurry!"

"Right!" Choji and Shikamaru leapt up into the trees and began racing their way back towards the castle in search of Ino.

* * *

The leader raised the large sword over Suigetsu.

_'So this is how it ends?_' Suigetsu thought. _'In irony? In me being killed with my own blade? Ugh. I always hated irony. Then again, I guess I wouldn't want to die any other way._'

"Say goodnight!" The leader screeched, swiping the blade down from the sky and into Suigetsu.

'_Then again, who said I was ready to die?_'

Suigetsu closed his eyes. He was right before - he didn't want to witness his own death. He heard the cold, cutting sound of the blade doing it's job. And yet, there was a floating feeling. Even more, there was no painful feeling.

'_This is death? I feel like I'm flying..._' Suigetsu slowly opened his eyes. Ino was carrying him up to a tree. She placed him gingerly on the branch and knelt down next to him, beginning to heal his charred chest, a green, healing chakra encasing her hands.

Suigetsu looked at her, the seriousness in her eyes. He had never seen that before.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned. "Go find your friends."

"I did," she answered quickly. She didn't take her eyes off of his wound. She didn't dare make eye contact with him. She wasn't ready for that. To fight for him? That she was ready to do. But she couldn't face him. She didn't deserve to.

"Then why are you here?" he tried to press on but the throbbing pain in his chest caused his voice to trail off.

"Because. Because I'm not leaving you behind," she told him, shaking her head vigorously. "I didn't even ask you to! I didn't even ask for your help but you helped me anyway! Why would you do that? I've been a bitch this whole time... these past few days I've been nothing but rude to you! But that still hasn't stopped you from trying to help me. Help me in a way that wouldn't benefit you at all," she took a breath and let out a chuckle. "Suigetsu. I don't understand you at all," she smiled and looked at him, pulling her long bangs behind her ear. "But I want to try."

Suigetsu sighed in defeat and rolled his eyes. "You're a real dumb kid, you know that?" he muttered. "Listen, lady I'm not worth trying to understand. I don't know why I-" Ino pressed her lips onto his and shut him up. She stopped her medical jutsu and slipped her hand behind his head and leaned farther on top of him, careful not to harm his wounded chest. Suigetsu took his strong arm and wrapped it around her waist, clutching onto the hem of her skirt.

Ino broke away but kept her forehead close to his. She felt his breath of contentment and a smile graced her lips. The palm of her hand met his for a short moment until a beam of lightening grazed over Ino and hit the tree branch beside her. She quickly shot up and turned around, taking a protective stance in front of Suigetsu.

"Aw, how sweet. Young love," the leader mockingly cooed.

Ino grabbed a kunai from her pouch and gripped tightly to it.

"I haven't forgotten about you for even a second, bastard."

* * *

DUN,DUN,DUN :D

There is totally a kickass Ino battle coming up. And hey, maybe even Shika and Cho will get in on the action too :D

Again, sorry for the EXTREMELY late update. Summer is well, summer :p If (and when) I do continue to write more SuiIno stories (probably during the school year), I'll be able to upload more...well, maybe. It's senior year so I might be busy. But anyway, yes! There will definately be more SuiIno!

(:

P.s - is this short? Sorry if it is! ^^;


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